The Daybreakers: Darkness Rising
by mallow45
Summary: Alex has always had a boring life. But that all changes after the death of a friend. His parents are hiding a secret from him, a secret kept since the day he was born. Zach must find him before it's too late. All of the Daybreakers must come together.
1. Prologue

**-Prologue-**

_Fifteen years earlier..._

Gyro Gearloose had hit a road block in his life. He was having a hard time coming up with new inventions for Toontown, and the citizens were getting a bit restless. Gyro usually had a new invention out every three months or so, but it had been eight months since he had released a new invention. He was sitting in his house, feeling a bit dejected. It was pouring rain outside, which reflected the mood Gyro was in. The citizens of Toontown were too dependent on him, they didn't seem to take into consideration that Gyro had a life besides being an inventor. He heard a knock on the door. He expected it to be another annoying toon with more complaints. He sighed and got up to answer the door. He opened it, and jumped about five feet backwards.

"Wh-wh-what in the world?" He sputtered. "Who are you?"

Two beings he had never seen before padded into his house. They were both wearing cloaks, but Gyro could still see their dark faces. They removed the cloaks and Gyro saw their whole form. They appeared to be robots, but their was a powerful dark aura sorrounding them, so close that Gyro could see it.

"Gyro Gearloose?" One of them spoke, this one had a male voice.

"We have something to ask of you," The other one said, sounding like a female.

Gyro grabbed a wrench from his work table and put it out in front of him to defend himself.

"What do you want?" He quivered.

"We have heard about your serum and we would like too have some."

Gyro had made his special serum about a months before, but it was nothing the toons would be able to benefit from.

"You're robots," Gyro said. "It won't work."

"Ah, but we are only half robot Mr. Gearloose," The male robot said. "It will work if you inject it into our power source."

"What's your power source?"

"Darkness. A darkness so different that it can change to form something else."

What was coming out of the robot's mouths sounded crazy to Gyro, but he would try it anyway.

"Okay, but you need a DNA sample of another toon."

The male held up a bag of what looked to be dog fur. Gyro nodded.

"Let's begin, but what about your bodies?"

"If this works, we will have no need for them anymore, they will be yours."

Gyro grinned. He finally had an idea for an invention.

"Right this way," Gyro said as he led the strange visitors into another room.

* * *

**A/N: Alright, so I'm going to be accepting some character sheets for this story. Submit your character in a review and I will choose 2 of them. I may choose more at a later point in the story.**

**CHARACTER SHEET:**

**Name:**

**Species:**

**Gender:**

**Age:**

**Color:**

**Height/weight: (small, med. etc.)**

**Personality Traits:**


	2. Chapter 1: The Agent Apprentice Program

**-Chapter 1 : The Agent Apprentice Program-**

Jake had died of heart failure. At least, that's what the doctors had told the town. Everybody was too shocked to wonder how a thirteen-year old's heart could just stop working and die. However, Alex O'Bannon had stayed calm enough to think about it. Jake had been healthy. He played football and baseball, and he worked out. It just didn't seem to add up. Alex had thought that maybe somebody had poisened him, but nobody in town would have poisened a guy like Jake. He made straight A's, he was a great athlete, and he was one of the nicest guys in town. Alex and Jake had been best friends since the first grade, and they were almost exactly alike, except that Jake had been a dark green cat and Alex was a dark green dog. It had been about three weeks since Jake's death and Alex's life was starting to get back to normal. Normal. That's all his life had ever been. His parents were kind, he didn't get in trouble that much, he played football and basketball, and he was pretty popular. If only he had known that his life would soon turn dangerous.

* * *

_Toontown Central HQ, October 22nd_

Man, this is so boring, I feel like a freakin' cog, thought Mark Browning as he sat in his office. He was not used to just sitting in one place going through paper work, but that's what Flippy had been making him do for the past three weeks. After Zita had been released and wounded, things had slowed down immensly. Cogs were not roaming the streets as much, and it was becoming rare for a cog building to appear. People were thinking that the cogs were starting to give up, but they were so wrong it wasn't even funny. Mark knew they were waiting until Zita woke up, then they would launch a full scale attack on Toontown. It was only a matter of time. Just then, Cool Clyde walked into the room.

"Hey Mark," he said. "They're here."

Years ago, Toontown had launched a program called the Agent Apprentice Program. It was where teens trained with real agents to learn more about being one. It was the same program Mark had gone into at the age of fifteen, which was why he had the job of a secret agent. He had been selected to be the mentor to the latest pair. He was pretty excited to be teaching kids about being a secret agent. Two toons walked into the room. They looked pretty excited. There was a boy and a girl. The boy was a blue mouse who seemed to be at a pretty average height for his age. The girl was an average sized periwinkle cat. Mark motioned for them to sit in the chairs pulled up in front of his desk. He went through a stack of files until he found a specific piece of paper. He read over it, then looked at the anxious teens.

"Harvey Bananabrains and Princess Melody Sparkleswirl," Mark started. "From the looks of your files, it seems that you guys will make great apprentices."

Melody smiled and Harvey nodded.

"So, what are we going to do while we're here?" Harvey asked.

"Well," Mark started. "We'll do some undercover work and I'll teach you guys the basics,"

"Are we gonna get to go on a REAL mission?" Melody asked excitedly.

Mark laughed, then said, "I'm not sure yet. Things have been really slow lately, but we'll try to work something out."

"How long does this go on?" Harvey asked.

"Two weeks," Mark said. "You guys will be staying in dorm rooms. I'll be staying in a dorm right next to you guys."

He got up and started walking towards the door.

"I'll show you guys where you're staying."

* * *

Things had been pretty peaceful in the small town of Elko for the past three weeks. There were no more murders or kidnappings, and the underground Cog Nation had been destroyed by an unkown force. That's about all the authorites knew about it, but Zach Osborne and Master Milton knew excatly what had happened. The release of Zita had been too much for the underground HQ. The cogs that were still there had most likely died. Life for Zach had improved in the three weeks after Zita's release. He and Milton had both made the Elko Middle school seventh grade basketball team. He had made a lot of friends and had been spending a lot of time with Amy Grant. Just before Zach had left for Cog Nation, Amy had revealed to him that she was also in the Witness Security Program. It had made him feel like he wasn't alone in the world, that he wasn't the only one having to hide who he was. Jack Greene, the name Zach wished he could get back, the name that had been with him for most of his childhood.

He hadn't asked what Amy's real name was, because he knew better than that. He wouldn't want to risk putting her family in danger. Zach didn't talk about Amy much around the house, as he didn't want his sister, Lily and his mother, Terry bugging him and asking a load of questions. He would tell them about Amy when he was good and ready. He was sitting in his living room watching a sitcom. Terry and Lily were out shopping for clothes. Zach hated shopping with his mother and sister, because they took too long to pick stuff out and try them on. He used to go shopping with his father, Eric, but he had been arrested about a month and a half before. That seemed like a lifetime ago to Zach, because that's exactly what it was. It had been something from another life.

When the show went to commercial break, the screen went black. Zach thought that maybe it had broken, but just as he was getting up to see what was wrong, white words appeared on the screen. They said:

**Hello Jack Greene. I have been watching you for a few weeks now and I have decided that you and one of your friends are the perfect toons for my ultimate test. This test will commense on the date of October 28th. I just want you to know that you have absoulutey no say in whether you take this test or not. Once it begins, you will have exactly 72 hours to pass it. If you don't pass it in that amount of time, then you and your friend will face eternal damnation. I am not a cog, and I am not The Chairman. I am someone whome you have never met, so do not try to find me. Good-bye Jack, enjoy the show.**

The TV went back to the show, and Zach's hands were shaking like crazy. Someone was watching him. He then proceeded to lock all doors and windows.

* * *

Mr. Hollywood, B-102 sat in an alleyway reading a newspaper atricle about the death of a kid named Jake Tyler. B-102 was a traitor to the cogs with a special gift. He had a heart and refused to let the cogs use it to their atvantage. He had been roaming the forest located outside of Elko, a place he had quickly started to call his home. He had contemplated going to the main Toontown Central HQ to explain his situation, but they would probably attack him as soon as they saw him. He sighed. He had nothing to live for anymore. He had a purpose when he was working with the cogs, but now he had nothing to do and nowhere to go. He got up and started heading towards the forest, when suddenly, he felt the cool metal of a fire hose nozzle against his neck.

"Put your hands up and slowly turn around. Don't try anything or I will shoot," a toon said.

**A/N: Kind of a slow chapter I, but they'll get faster. I'd like to thank Mr. Awesome Guitarfreak for Harvey Bananabrains and kizziefoshnizzie for Princess Melody Sparkleswirl. **

**NOTE: This is in no way a tie in with The Toontown Saga or stories about Melody, I am just using their characters.**


	3. Chapter 2: Mark Becomes A Teacher

**-Chapter 2: Mark Becomes A Teacher (Sort Of)-**

At the heart of Sellbot HQ's factory, The Foreman was taking a look at Zita's insides. There seemed to be no damage to them, so that must have meant that Zita's soul was the only thing that was damaged. He had no way of knowing when Zita would become operational again, but it had to happen soon, or the Daybreakers would eventually try to destroy Zita. The VP and The Chairman were not going to be happy about the situation. He let out an annoyed sigh and threw a wrench across the room. It hit the wall with a satisfying clang. He slowly dialed the VP's number to deliver the bad news.

* * *

Alex sat at his computer, trying to find some other case where a teen had died of heart failure. There were none. Alex began to think that maybe the doctors were not telling the town everything. He sighed and went into the living room, where his parents were sitting on the couch watching one of those doctor dramas his mother liked so much. His father was Kenny O'Bannon and his mother was Mary O'Bannon. Kenny looked like he was looking for an excuse to stop watching the show Mary was so tuned in to. After a few seconds of Alex just standing in the room, his father finally noticed him. He got up from the couch with a big grin on his face.

"Hey son!" He said. "Wanna go shoot some hoops?"

Alex knew his father just wanted to stop watching that dopey show, but he agreed anyway. He needed to practice anyway since he was on his school's seventh grade basketball team. He went into his room and got his ball. He went outside where his dad was standing in front of their basketball goal which they had cemented into their driveway. Alex took a few mid-range shots, then decided to pop a question on his father.

"Hey Dad," he started. "Don't you think it sounds pretty stupid that a thirteen-year old could have died of heart failure?"

Kenny frowned, then said, "what do you mean?"

"Come on Dad," Alex said. "Kids don't die of heart failure. And how could somebody as healthy as Jake have a weak heart. If you think about it, things just don't add up."

Kenny sighed. "Alex, I know it doesn't sound like it could happen, but it did whether we like it or not."

Alex couldn't take his father's word for it. He wasn't really doctor material when it came to scientific stuff, but he decided that he wasn't going to get anything out of him, so he just dropped it.

"Whatever you say," he said. "Come on, let's play a little one-on-one."

* * *

Well the room wasn't really what Harvey had imagined. He had expected it to be a room with a fridge complete with soda and awesome snacks, a huge, cozy bed, and a plasma screen TV. What he did get was a room with a fridge with only two gallons of milk and two gallons of water, a pantry with some bread, peanut butter, jelly, and some cereal, a bed with a somewhat lumpy matress, and a very small television set. It looked like secret agents didn't get a whole lot of luxury after all.

"I know it's not what you had in mind," Mark said. "But being a secret agent doesn't exactly give you a life of luxury."

Harvey sighed. He guessed it was decent enough. He had food and water, which was all he really needed. He had been on a not so comfortable bus ride the morning before. He had woken up at 7:30 AM and had gotten on a bus in the Brrrgh. The ride was about two hours long, and it had been bumpy. He and Melody had been the only ones on there, minus the driver. They only stopped to use the bathroom once, and Harvey had made the mistake of filling up on coke. So as soon as they had arrived, Harvey had ran full speed into the nearest gag shop to take a leak, while Melody had been laughing at how funny he looked when he ran. He hoped he would be able to catch a little nap.

"I'll let you unpack," Mark said. "Then we'll go get some lunch."

Melody wasn't too thrilled with her room either. It seemed to be the exact same as Harvey's. Melody hated lumpy matresses so much that she almost punched the wall when she saw it. Everytime her family went to a bad hotel with lumpy matresses, she would be up all night rolling over into different positions, but no matter what she tried, she couldn't get comfortable. She wanted to complain to Mark about it, but that wasn't the way secret agents were supposed to act, so she kept her mouth shut. After the two teens unpacked their bags, Mark took them to lunch.

They ate at a place called O'Bannon's, a restraunt that had been around for years. When they walked into the restraunt, there was a blue horse at the front desk.

"Hey Mark," he said. "How many?"

"Just three," Mark replied. "Is Kenny here today?"

"Nah man. It's their day off, so Popcorn is in charge."

The horse looked at Harvey and Melody.

"I guess this is them," he said.

Them? Harvey thought. Are we famous or something?

"That's right," Mark replied. "Hopefully they'll be the unstoppable secret agents of tomorrow."

Yeah, Harvey thought. If a cog doesn't kidnap us first.

The horse, whose nametag said Tom McTooth, led them to a booth. Harvey and Melody sat next to each other and Mark sat across from them. they all had burgers and coke and left with stomach aches.

"I hope you enjoyed that," Mark said. "Because that's probably all the fast food you're gonna get while you're training with me."

Melody and Harvey hated the sound of that, but that just goes to show you that the life of an agent isn't all it seems to be in the movies.

* * *

_B-102's Log: Entry 7_

Man, of all the times for a toon to walk into an alleyway, why me? I immediatly put my hands up and turned around very slowy. I then came face to face with a cog's worst nightmare. It was a tall, muscular purple dog in a toon police uniform. He seemed to be in his late forties, but looked very fit for his age. I looked at his nametag fo find out that his name was Apollo. I had never heard of a name like that in my entire life, but that's not really saying much, as I've been alive less than two months. I thought of making a grab for the hose, but Apollo could probably tear me apart, so I just stood there with my hands up.

"What is your business here cog?" He boomed in a deep voice.

"N-nothing," I sputtered. "I'm not hurting anyone, so just back off."

Big mistake. He got angrier and put the nozzle to my forehead.

"Listen buddy, you don't wanna screw with me, because I will give you a world of hell. You can either come with me to the station for questioning, or we can duke it out right here, right now."

Under normal circumstances, I probably could have taken this guy down, but I hadn't had any mantinence in forever, so I was pretty weak. I decided it would be better to try and explain my situation.

"Fine," I said. "I'll go to your little station."

Apollo seemed extremely suprised at this. He had probably expected me to fight him without hesitation.

"Okay..." He said. "I guess we'll go then."

He handcuffed me and we walked towards the station. When we got there, the chief started questioning me.

"What is your business here?" He asked coldly. "Were you waiting to jump a defensless child?"

I sighed and suddenly had an idea. If I told them my situation, then they would think I was full of crap, but if they heard it from a toon, they would probably believe me.

"Hold on," I said. "I have a witness to call first. Can you get Zach Osborne here?"

The Chief sighed and turned to Apollo.

"Go get him," he said annoyed. "But if you're story doesn't check out, then we're gonna blow you to pieces."


	4. Chapter 3: An Unlikely Ally

**-Chapter 3: An Unlikely Ally-**

Zach wasn't in a good mood at all. He tried to stay calm and watch TV, but he kept pacing the floors trying to think of what this 'test' could possibly be. There was no way that it was a prank, as the person knew his real name and nobody he knew could hack into a TV. He then came up with an idea. He went into the kitchen and grabbed the telephone. He started to dial Mark Browning's number, but a split second after he started, somebody knocked on his door. He jumped and ran to look out the window. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was a cop. He unlocked the door and let Apollo, as that's what his nametag said, into the house. Zach gulped realizing this guy could probably take him down with one punch.

"You," he started. "Are you Zach Osborne?"

Zach gulped and replied calmly. "Yes sir, is there a problem?"

"Well sorta," Apollo said. "You didn't do anything, but we need you to clear up somebody else's story for us to make sure it checks out alright. Are your parents home Zach?"

Zach slowly shook his head.

"Well, I'll just give them a call at the station and let them know you're okay."

Parent, Zach thought bitterly. I only have one parent.

Zach got into the police cruiser, hoping the cop wasn't lying to him just to get him to come along quietly. Apollo backed out of the driveway and started driving towards the Elko Police Department.

* * *

Apollo led Zach into one of those dark rooms with only one light, a few chairs, and a table. His blood stopped cold when he saw who was sitting in one of the chairs. It was B-102, and he looked pretty terrible.

"B-102?" Zach said in bewilderment. "What are you doing here?"

"Why don't you ask the muscle head standing next to you," he replied.

Apollo growled at him and slammed his hand on the table, but B-102 remained still, as if Apollo was just a little three-year old. He got in B-102's face with a look of pure hatred in his eyes.

"Hey," the chief snapped. "Save it Apollo, I don't want cog pieces littering the ground."

Apollo got out of the cog's face and went back over to where Zach was standing.

"Alright," he started. "This guy claims he's not a bad guy and that you know it. We need you to set the story straight for us."

Zach looked at B-102, then back at Apollo. As weird as it seemed to be helping a cog out of trouble, Zach still owed him at least that much. If it hadn't been for his act of kindness than his body would be under tons and tons of Cog Nation rubble. He decided he would leave out the Zita's Gate stuff and say he had fallen into Cog Nation, as stupid as it sounded. He sighed and began to tell the somewhat true story.

* * *

The Sellbot Vice President sat in his office reading the newspaper, The Cog Times. He would usually be doing paper work, but business for cogs had slowed down, but for the right reasons. The toons' guards were down, as they thought the cogs had thrown in the towel and were giving up the pointless war. They were fools. The toons should have known that the cogs were too set on their goals to just give up. They were waiting for Zita's repair, then the cogs would attack the unsuspecting toons. The VP had not answered his phone all day. If someone had important news to share with him, then they could approach him themseles. Just then, his large office doors creaked open. The Foreman walked slowly to the front of the VP's desk. He put the newspaper down and looked the Foreman in the eye.

"Ah, Mr. Foreman," the VP started. "I take it this must be an important visit if you came all the way from the factory."

"Yes," the Foreman said. "But you may not like what you hear."

The VP sighed and sat back in his leather chair. "Go on."

"I inspected Zita's inner workings, and it seems that they have not been harmed at all."

"What?" The VP said. "If that is so, then why will he not start up again?"

"We suspect it is Zita's dark power that has been damaged. In other words, it was his soul Jack Greene and Master Milton managed to damage."

The VP rolled off of his chair and tried to think of a solution. If they didn't revive Zita soon, then Garret Martin would be furious. He then came up with an idea.

"You said it was his darkness that was damaged," the VP said. "Have you taken a look at his main power source?"

The Foreman's eyes lit up.

"No sir. But that seems like a very good idea, I'll get right on it."

The VP nodded and went back to his newspaper as the Foreman left.

"Foreman," he said. "Wait just a moment."

the Foreman turned back to the VP, about half way across the room.

"I also need you to start replacing the destroyed 102 cogs. You will need to replace A-102, B-102, and C-102. Since we are not in the prototype stage anymore, I want you to make A-102 a Mr. Hollywood."

"Yes sir," the Foreman replied. "Oh that reminds me. I checked the status of the 102 cogs earlier this morning, and I found something interesting."

"And what would that be?" The VP asked.

"I found that B-102 is currently activated, but we have not been able to contact him."

* * *

Apollo and the chief exchanged looks of bewilderment, then looked back at Zach, who had just finished telling them his story. B-102 sat in a chair fiddling with a pen chained to a table. He was silently praying that the police believed the impossible sounding story.

"Okay..." Apollo started. "You really expect us to believe that this piece of junk has EMOTIONS?"

Zach sighed. "Think about it. A cog would only risk his life to save a toon if he had emotions. There's no way in the world a regular cog would do it."

"The kid's got a point," the chief said. "I guess maybe seemingly impossible things can be achieved."

Apollo looked at him in shock. "Trey?! You actually believe this crap?"

Trey shrugged and said, "yeah, I guess I do. If you need any further evedince, then I guess we can ask Gyro to take a look at him."

"Gyro?" Zach asked. "You mean the guy who created those metal idiots?"

"Hey," B-102 said. "I'm not deaf y'know."

"It wasn't exactly Gyro's fault," Trey said. "It was that idiot Scrooge McDuck's fault, as he's the nitwit who wired the first one wrong."

"Where is he?" Zach asked.

"He's here in Elko. He couldn't really deal with the impatience back in Toontown Central, so he moved here to be away from it all."

Apollo started walking towards the door.

"I'm gonna call my nephew and ask him if he can join us. He's usually great with this kind of stuff."

Trey nodded and said, "I'll call Gyro and ask if we can drop by tomorrow afternoon. He shouldn't be too busy."

After a few minutes had passed, Apollo took Zach home. His mother wasn't home yet, and Apollo told him not to say a word about what he had just witnessed. Trey was going to let B-102 stay in the police HQ for the night. Zach was beat, so as soon as walked into his house, he walked straight into his room and plopped down onto his bed, and then a peaceful sleep followed.

* * *

Harvey Bananabrains sat in his dorm watching a sports highlights show. He had to sit about a few inches away from the TV, because the agents had apparently been too cheap to buy a decent sized TV. If he kept it up, then his eyes would be hurting by the time the program was over. He sighed and turned the TV off. He decided to just get some rest, so he started walking towards the bed. Before he could lay down, Mark walked into his room.

"Hey, have you unpacked yet?" Mark asked.

"No," Harvey replied. "I just keep everything in my suitcases to save time."

"Well good, because I think we've just found a mission perfect for you and Melody to try some hands on experience."

"Alright!" Harvey said excitedly. "Where is it at?"

"Elko."

Harvey stared at him with his mouth opened wide. "Elko?"

After Harvey had gotten over his shock, they went and told Melody the same thing. She wasn't happy, as she had already unpacked all of her stuff and put them in drawers. After Mark and Harvey waited a half-hour for Melody to quickly pack her clothes, they got into Mark's van and set off for Elko.

* * *

In a building deep into the Elko woods sat a toon and an unknown figure hidden by the shadows.

"I think it is time we fully analyzed his battle techniques," the dark figure said.

The toon got up and nodded. "I will find some high level cogs for him to fight."

The dark figure nodded and the toon exited the building.


	5. Chapter 4: A Look Into Their Minds 1

**-Chapter 4: A Look Into Their Minds (1)-**

**Zach**

Some might say it was my destiny. Others might say that I had just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Whatever it is, I just know that I wished it never happened. I never wanted to be a part of this, but I am, and I can't change that. After Dad was arrested, things had gone completely down hill from there. And now I'm in bigger trouble than anyone could ever imagine. It's been about three weeks since Zita's release. Everything was going pretty much my way, until that night.....

* * *

On the night of October 22nd, I was walking home from the Elko Rec center where my friends and I often played long games of basketball. It happened when I stepped into the light from a street lamp. There in front of me were four Mr. Hollywoods, and they looked like they were just looking for trouble.

"It's about time you showed up," one of them said. "We've been waiting for hours."

I noticed that there was something very strange abot those cogs, something I had never noticed before. They weren't 102 cogs, thank the lord. I took them down in about three minutes. I was a little suprised. They hadn't put up much of a fight. I decided it was best just to get the heck out of there, so I ran the rest of the way home. I was so tired that I fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed. Too bad I didn't know that what happened that strange night was the thing that would screw me over later on...

* * *

**Milton**

Ever since I was little, I had always been looking for an adventure. Something to make the boredom of Elko life just go away. I was born and raised in Elko my whole life and let me tell you, it gets old. So that's probably why I'm embracing this whole Daybreakers thing, as it may be a way to redeem my boring life. But on the morning of October 22nd, something incredibly strange happened, and that's saying alot considering what I've gotten myself into over the past two months.

* * *

I walked into the cafe, something I did pretty much everyday. I looked around and noticed for about the millionth time that the toons there were the same ones I saw every time I dropped by. You see, that's the thing about Elko. It's so small that there aren't alot of restraunts, or movie theatres, or pretty much anything. So when people go to a place they like, then that's usually the place they go to all the time. I didn't mind going to the cafe everyday though;they had alot of good stuff there. I went to to the cashier to order a slice of cream pie and a coke. (Yeah I know what you're thinking. What a bad combination. Well, you live your life, I'll live mine.) When I was done ordering, Rebecca, (That's what her nametag said.) looked me up and down, then pulled something out of her pocket.

"You're Master Milton right?" She asked.

"You got it," I replied.

She held out a piece of paper and said, "a man dropped by and told me to give this to you when you came."

I took the piece of paper and unfolded it. It read: _Milton, you are about to face a great challenge. If you want to know more, then ask your friend Zach Osorne about the 'test'._

"Who gave this to you?" I asked when I had finished reading the note.

"I don't know," Rebecca said. "The man was wearing some robe thing and a weird mask."

Now under normal circumstances, I would have just brushed something like this off as some practical joke, but after what I'd been through, I would believe just about anything.

"It's probably just a joke," Rebecca said. "People around here play jokes like these to scare people all the time."

"Yeah, alright," I said.

I paid her, ate my pie and drank my coke, then left. As soon as I got home, I went straight into the living room and grabbed my family's home phone. I began to quickly dial Zach's number.

**Alex**

I still couldn't believe that Jake had died so quickly. I hadn't known it back then, but Jake's death was the thing that changed the course of my life drastically. You're probably thinking 'how could a friend's death change your life that much?' Well let me just say that it turned out I wasn't who I thought I was. I guess the strangeness began when my friend and I went to see how the Tylers were doing.

* * *

I was outside shooting hoops in my driveway with my friend, Cool Ace. Jake, Ace, me, and a few other guys had been friends since our early years. It wasn't the same without Jake around.

"Hey," Ace said, cutting into my thoughts. "We should go see how Jake's family is doing."

"I don't know," I replied. "What if they're too sad to see anybody?"

"Aw c'mon," Ace said. "You know they're always happy to see us. We were like the brothers Jake never had."

I sighed, knowing full well that Ace wasn't going to drop the subject. I swished one more long shot, then put my ball in the garage. We got on our bikes and started riding to the Tylers' house.

* * *

It looked like there were a good bit of cousins, uncles, and aunts visiting Jake's house. I had met his cousins a few times, but only saw them maybe once every few months. Ace on the other hand had never met Jake's extended family, so it would be pretty awkaward for him. After we put our bikes on the lawn, we walked slowly to the front porch. I didn't hear any music or laughter in the house, so that must have meant that they were still upset about the whole thing. I took a deep breath and rang the door bell. About half a minute later it was answered by a very short, very light sea green cat.

"Oh, hi Alex," Jake's eleven-year old cousin, Lady Wonderberry said. "What'cha doing here?"

Ace and I looked at each other and nodded.

"We came to check on Jake's family," I said. "We want to make sure they're doing alright."

"Okay," Berry said, then gave Ace a curious look. "Are you a friend of Jake's?"

"Yeah," Ace said. "The name's Ace."

Berry let us in and we recieved several stares from aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was pretty uncomfortable, as they were looking at us as if we were pests or something. After a few seconds, they returned to their conversations, no longer noticing our presence. We went into the kitchen to find Hunt Tyler and Maria Tyler at the tale talking softly to each other. As soon as they saw us, they immediatly stopped their conversation and greeted us.

"Alex! Ace! What brings you two guys here?" Hunt asked, trying not to act so depressed.

"We came to see how you guys were doing," I said. "You must feel awful."

Hunt sighed and took a swig from a can of coke.

"Yeah, no doubt about that," he said. "Jake was one of a kind. Never gonna forget his sense of humor and his major pitching and quarter back skills."

Hunt had been very proud of his son's athletic talent. Colleges had already started looking at him during the last football season.

"How's his sister?" Ace asked. "Is she okay?"

Jake had a twin sister, a gourgeous light blue cat named Makayla. I had never told this anybody, but I had always had a huge crush on her. I never really adressed it to her, as it would be pretty awkaward dating your best friend's sister.

"She's still pretty wrecked," Maria said sadly. "She's at basketball practice right now, but it should be over soon."

Makayla was on the Toontown Central Middle School seventh grade basketball team like me, except she played for the girls team. My team practiced directly after hers. Ace then looked down at his watch.

"Oh man," he said. "We gotta get ready for practice. It's in twenty minutes!"

We said our goodbyes and went our seperate ways. After I was ready, I started sprinting to school. Practice was going to start in three minutes, and Coach Sams would make me run ten laps around the gym if I was late.


	6. Chapter 5: A Mysterious Foe

**-Chapter 5: A mysterious foe-**

_Saturday, October 23rd_

Zach awoke to the sound of the living room television and the conversations of Terry and Lily. He looked over at his alarm clock to see that it was 10:30 AM. He decided to go ahead and get out of bed. as his mother did not like him or his sister sleeping ;ater than 11:00. He walked into the kitchen and was greeted by the smell of pancakes being made. His mother and sister were talking and laughing with each other like sisters. The sight was painful for Zach to watch, as it made him remember all of the good times he and his father had. Terry stopped laughing when she noticed Zach.

"Oh hi Zach, you're up. I was just about to go wake you," she said.

"Yeah I figured," Zach replied. "You can't stand to have me sleep until noon. What's with the pancakes? Did something good happen?"

"I don't see why something has to happen for there to be pancakes for breakfast. I thought it might start off a nice Saturday."

After the pancakes were ready, Zach ate about twelve of them. He had fallen asleep before he had the chance to eat dinner the night before, and he had been extremely hungry when he woke up that morning. After he was stuffed, he hopped in the shower and stayed in there for about twenty minutes, letting the hot water soothe him. He then pulled on some gym shorts and a T-shirt and decided to watch TV. He flipped on the large plasma screen and started channel surfing. That was the thing about Saturday morning. There was NOTHING to watch except those dopey Saturday morning cartoons he used to watch when he was nine and ten-years old. He quickly found a sports highlights show and left it there. They were talking about middle school basketball players who could have a shot at making it to the TBA (Toontown Basketball Association) when they got older. His eyes widened when he heard the announcer mention Elko Middle School. He turned up the volume and listened closely.

**"The Elko Middle School seventh grade boys demolished Donald's Dreamland Middle School's seventh grade boys on the night of the 21st. The two leaders of this team seem to be Zach Osborne and Master Milton. Osborne's excellent three-point shooting was the best Elko has seen in decades. He had twenty five points, five rebounds, and three blocks. He went 8-8 from beyond the arc and 1-2 in free throws. The star point guard, Master Milton had twenty points, four rebounds, and six blocks. Milton's ability to penetrate the defence is remarkable. He scored ten layups in a row, and nobody could stop him. His defensive abilities are also something to behold. He made sure the person he was gaurding wouldn't be able to get a single shot off without having it blocked..."**

Zach rewound it and called Terry and Lily into the room. They listened closely as the announcer praised Zach's skills. It seemed like basketball was the only thing that could take his mind off of Zita and the whole Daybreaker crap. A few hours later around 1:00 PM, his mother and sister told Zach they were going to go shopping at the mall.

"You wanna come?" His mother asked.

Zach gave her a look that clearly stated 'are you seriously asking me that?' Knowing what it meant, Terry smiled and they hopped inot Terry's van and drove off in the direction of Elko's only mall. The day before, right before Zach had leftfor school, Milton had called him asking what the ultimate test was. Zach had explained to him what he knew and how he had seen the message through his TV. A few seconds after he had plopped back down onto the couch, he heard the home phone ring. With a groan, he got up and ran to get it. He noticed that the caller ID read: **Grant Neil. **Knowing full well who it was, he took a deep breath and hit the talk button.

"Hello?"

"Hey, hey," came a bubbly voice. "Are you dressed?"

"Yeah."

"Good," Amy said. "Come to the park, I wanna hang out with you for a bit."

"Alright," Zach said. "i'll see you in a few."

"Don't keep me waiting."

Zach hung up the phone and went into his room to pull on a pair of blue jeans. He grabbed his cell phone and slipped it into his pocket. If his mother showed up before he did, then she would most likely assume he was at the Elko Rec Center. He left his house and started walking to the park.

"It seems that I have underestimated the power the boy holds within himself," the dark figure said as he watched a recording of battle analisys from Zach Osborne.

The toon nodded and scribbled something down onto a notepad. "Will we still test his other abilities on the 28th?"

"Of course, we must see the full extent of his powers."

The tall dog nodded again and continued to write in his notepad. The dark figure stared at the screen, looking for something that could serve as Jack Greene's weak point. He sighed and hit the power button on the left side of the large TV. He turned to the dog and tossed him the camcorder.

"I think it's about time we give Master Milton a little present," he stated. "But this time, try to see if you can find any flaws in his battle tactics."

"Yes sir," the dog said before walking out of the cabin and into the streets of Elko.

Mark, Harvey, and Melody had arrived in Elko shortly after 2:00 in the morning. It had been a long and somewhat interesting ride. Mark told them stories of heroes who had risked their lives to save Toontown only a few years before. They also shared many laughs, as it turned out that Mark had a pretty good sense of humor. After they had arrived at a hotel, they decided to call it a night and get some sleep. Mark told them he would explain everything once the morning came. At about 10:45, they had all woken up and went down to the hotel's restraunt to grab some breakfast.

"Okay," Harvey said once they were all seated around a circular table. "So what's so important that we had to drive all the way here to see it?"

"Well, it seems that the Elko Police Department has found themselves a new kind of cog. According to a young boy, this cog has the ability to feel emotions."

Melody and Harvey exchanged looks of disbelief.

"How's that even possible?" Melody said. "They're not even actually alive, they're just mindless business men."

"You'd be surprised," Mark told her. "Those cogs are pretty smart when it comes to mechanics. If I had to guess, it was probably the Chairman who came up with the idea."

"Wait, who is this Chairman dude anyway?" Harvey asked.

"That's classified," Mark stated. "It would be best if civillians didn't find out. All hell would most likely break loose."

After they had finished eating, Mark got up and looked at his watch. "We have to leave soon. The police chief, Trey Johnson wants me to be there when we discover the mystery behind the cog."

As they walked out of the hotel, a scream was heard.

Zach was just about to enter the park, when suddenly a scream pierced his ear drums. He ran to see toons scattering, like a bomb had just been dropped. Zach ran to the center of the park and saw a figure cloaked in some sort of shadowy aura. Zach prepared to strike, but then he noticed something. The figure was holding a knocked out Amy.

"Jack," the figure rasped. "How nice of you to join us. I was starting to think you wouldn't show up."

"Who are you?!" Zach shouted. "Are you one of Zita's goons?"

"Zita," the figure said, as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. "Don't insult me, Daybreaker. Zita is weak compared to me. I'm your real problem right now."

"Let her go!"

"I'll let her go," the figure said. "Only if you pass the test."

Zach gritted his teeth, now knowing who it was that sent him that dreadful message. The figure took a few steps back.

"We'll meet again Jack," he said.

"WHO ARE YOU?!"

He grinned, then said, "you can call me Dark."

And with that, Dark disappeared in a flash of dark aura. leaving Zach alone and dejected.


	7. Chapter 6: A World Of Darkness

**-Chapter 6: A World of Darkness-**

Amy Grant felt something hard below her body. She opened her eyes and saw the sky, nothing strange about that right? Pretty normal, except for the fact that the sky was gray. Amy looked at her watch and gasped when she realized it was only 3:00 PM. The weather forecast had promised blue skies all day, not a dark gray. She got up and took in her sorroundings, the somewhat unfamiliar sorroundings. Cog buildings were everywhere, the ground was paved with cement, not an inch of grass in sight, and there were no toons. It was like a nightmare. _Yeah, that's it, _she told herself. _This isn't real. I'm just having a bad dream. I'll wake up any second. _However, a few minutes passed and she was still in the business infested town.

"You are in violation of toon dress code," a metallic voice called out.

Amy whipped around and saw something that looked to be a cog.

"You are not allowed to wear anything besides gray and black. I will have to arrest you."

"Who are you?"

The cog seemed surprised. "Are you an idiot? I am the ruler of this pathetic place! My name is Leon Roder, the Chairman of Cog Nation!"

"Cog Nation? What happened to Toontown? Where in the world is everyone?"

Leon Roder let out an annoyed sigh. "I don't know where the hell you've been for the past twelve years, but Toontown no longer exists. There was no room in my organiztion for a bunch of useless and trivial little toys. What is your name?"

"Amy grant," she replied, sounding much braver than she felt. "What part of Toon- I mean Cog Nation am I in?"

Roder looked around, then fixed his cold gaze back on Amy. "Well, this place _used _to be Elko, but it is now the heart of Cog Nation, Central City."

"Where is everyone? Are they safe?"

"I grow tired of your constant blabbering. I am going to take you to the Cog Nation Prison for violating the toon dress code."

Leon Roder removed handcuffs from his pocket and started advancing on Amy. Suddenly, out of no where, a figure swiftly rammed into the evil cog. Someone grabbed her from behind, and started pulling her towards a forest of buildings.

_-Elko Park-_

Mark, Harvey, and Melody ran to the center of the park and found a blue dog standing motionless in a grassy spot.

"Zach?" Mark said. "What are you doing here? What happened?"

"H-he took her Mark," Zach said with no emotion in his voice. "He took her, then he just vanished into thin air."

"Zach, who did he take?" Mark asked.

"He took Amy," Zach said. "Some guy that called himself Dark."

Mark sighed, then took a phone out of his pocket. "Well, I guess our little vacation is over my friend. I'm gonna call Milton and tell him to meet us. I will find a way to get the others here soon."

"Hold on, timeout," Harvey said. "What's going on here Mark? I thought we were just going to see that Gyro dude."

"I'm sorry Harvey," Mark stated as he dialed a number. "But something far more important has finally shown itself. I will explain everything once things have settled down."

_-Gyro Gearloose's house, Elko Woods-_

Mark, Zach, Milton, Chief Trey Johnson, Harvey, Melody, Mr. Hollywood B-102, and Officer Apollo Browning stood in front of the entrance to Gyro Gearloose's house, which was located deep into the Elko Woods.

"I guess I'm gonna ring the bell," Apollo said when he realized everyone else didn't feel like doing it.

Apollo pressed his finger to the door bell and heard a buzzing sound go off inside the house. Everyone stood in front of the door for another thirty seconds, then the door was opened by an old chicken, Gyro Gearloose.

Chief Johnson stepped forward. "Hello Mr. Gearloose, my name is Chief Trey Johnson. We are the ones who scheduled this meeting to examine B-102's power source."

"Ah yes," Gearloose said. "Please, come in and make yourselves at home. There are snacks and refreshments in the kitchen, so please help yourself."

Milton started walking towards the kitchen, but Zach grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back.

"That's not what we're here for man," Zach said softly.

"Aw come on," Milton complained. "I was about to eat lunch when you guys called me up for this crap. I'm _starving_."

Zach sighed. "Whatever, but just hurry up, and save me some!"

Milton ran into the kitchen in search of food. Zach and everyone else followed Gearloose into his lab.

"B-102 you will need to lay on your back on this observation table I have set up."

B-102 looked at the table. "Am I going to be awake for this procedure, Mr. Gearloose?"

Gearloose shook his head. "No sir, but you will have to shut yourself down, as we do not know how."

Gearloose then turned to Zach and co.

"But first, let's get introductions out of the way. Officer Browning, who are these people you have brought along today?"

"Oh uh, well that's My nephew Mark, that's Chief Johnson, those two to the left of Mark are Harvey and Melody, his agents in training, that's Zach, but where's Milton?"

"In the kitchen stuffing his face," Zach said. "The dude eats like a pig."

"Well I can understand Harvey and Melody being here, but why are the two younger children here?"

Zach bit back a smart-ass comment. This guy had no idea how important he and Milton were in the fight against the cogs.

"Sir," Mark started. "I assure you that Zach and Milton are probably the most important people here at the moment. I am not permitted to say why, but they deserve to be here."

Gearloose nodded and turned to B-102, who was now on the observation table.

"Let's get started, shall we? B-102, I will need you to shut down for about thirty minutes."

B-102 nodded and started to feel himself fall out.

_-Somewhere beyond the former town of Elko-_

Amy had fainted due to the confusion of the last few minutes, but now found herself in a bed in a small cabin. She sat up and saw three toons watching some cog news show.

"Um hi," she said softly.

They snapped their heads towards Amy. They were all men. There were two dogs, one was red, one was green. They were both about 6'2 with big biceps. the other one was a multicolored cat. He was about 5'10, but looked more muscular than the two others.

The red dog was the first to speak. "You're awake. You have been out for about three hours."

"Where in the world am I? What happened to Elko?"

"You are safe now," the cat said. "We are in a secret underground cabin. The cogs haven't found this place in the twelve years since Toontown's defeat."

"What is your name?" The green dog asked.

"Amy Grant."

The red dog closed his eyes and sighed. "Damn it. You guys, we were wrong. Amy said she went forward in time, but Zach and I didn't believe her. We were fools."

"Zach? Where is he? Who are you?"

"Amy," the red dog said. "Take a good look at me and you will know."

Amy looked into the dog's eyes for about a minute, then let out a shocked gasp.

"Milton?"


End file.
